District of Grätz (Wartheland)
Grätz (Wartheland) district was the name of a German administrative unit in occupied Poland (1939–45) during the Second World War .
Prehistory (1815 to 1920)
The area around the western Polish cities of Grodzisk Wielkopolski and Nowy Tomyśl belonged to the Prussian province of Posen from 1815 to 1918/19 , until 1887 as the district of Buk and then as the district of Grätz and Neutomischel . In the course of the Wielkopolska Uprising , the area came under Polish control until January 1919 and was officially ceded to newly founded Poland on June 28, 1919 with the signing of the Treaty of Versailles . In addition, the eastern part of the German Meseritz district came to Poland. The evacuation and delivery to Poland took place between January 17th and February 4th 1920.
Administrative history
At the beginning of the Second World War , German troops occupied the western Polish powiat Nowy Tomyśl , the district town of Nowy Tomyśl was captured on September 10, 1939.
On October 26, 1939, the powiat under the name Neutomischel district in the administrative district of Posen (from April 28, 1941 then the district of Grätz and from May 18, 1943 finally the district of Graetz (Wartheland) ) was attached to the German Reich , which was a unilateral act the violence was ineffective under international law. The district became part of the administrative district of Posen in the Reichsgau Wartheland .
The seat of the German district office was the district town of Neutomischel , and from April 28, 1941 the town of Grätz .
The German occupation ended with the invasion of the Red Army in January 1945.
politics
Land Commissioner
- 1939 :?
District administrators
- 1939–1940:?
- 1940–1941: Reichelt
- 1941-1945: Iden
Municipal structure
The 147 localities in the district were initially grouped into 15 administrative districts . On January 1, 1942, the district of Grätz-Stadt was named a city according to the German municipal code of 1935, and on April 1, 1943, the district of Neutomischel-Stadt . Towards the end of the occupation, the district consisted of 2 cities and 13 administrative districts.
size
The district of Graetz (Wartheland) had an area of 1273 km².
population
The district of Grätz (Wartheland) had in 1941: 86,986 mostly Polish inhabitants. The German occupation authorities drove 11,650 Poles from the area between December 1, 1939 and December 31, 1943.
A small German minority lived in the area (1931: 18.6% of the district population), while Germans were also settled during the occupation. Towards the end of the occupation, most of them left the area.
The Jewish population was deported to the General Government and murdered there.
Place names
The local occupation authorities gave all localities in the district with German names, although officially according to the unpublished decree of the Interior Minister of December 29, 1939, the German names valid from 1918 should initially continue to apply. On May 18, 1943, German names were set for all places with a post or train station in Wartheland , although there were again deviations.
List of cities and administrative districts in the district of Grätz (Wartheland):
| Polish name | German name (1918) | German name (1939-1945) |
|---|---|---|
| Buk | Buk |
1939–1943 Buk 1943–1945 Buchenstadt |
| Granowo | Granowo |
1939–1943 Schenkendorf 1943–1945 Granau |
| Grodzisk Wielkopolski | Grätz | Grätz |
| Kuślin | Kuschlin | Kuschlin |
| Lwówek | Neustadt near Pinne |
1939–1943 Neustadt bei Pinne 1943–1945 Kirschneustadt |
| Miedzichowo | Copper hammer | Copper hammer |
| Nowy Tomyśl | Neuto Mischel | Neuto Mischel |
| Opalenica | Opalenitza |
1939–1943 Opalenitza 1943–1945 Oppenbach |
| Zbąszyń | Bentschen | Bentschen |
Web links
- District of Grätz (Wartheland) Administrative history and the district administrators on the website territorial.de (Rolf Jehke), as of August 18, 2013.